Daniel didn’t know whether to believe the cougar or not—though, loathe as he was to admit it, his cougar had never been wrong before. Each time he drew a breath, the scent grew stronger, as though the source was getting nearer. He felt eyes upon him, and he spun around to see a woman with dark brown hair blowing about her face. She looked to be quite lost and uncertain of where she was going. But the scent of leather and motorbike fumes instantly made sense when he saw what she was wearing.
Tightly fitting biker leathers that cupped the curves of her body. He couldn’t help but noticed that she had curves in all the right places, and the leather showed them off to their best advantage. And he wanted her more than he had wanted anything in his life.
Take her now. Claim her!
No.He battled down his own instinct, and his cougar’s.That isnotthe way. Be calm. I can handle this.
He was pretty sure his cougar wasn’t in agreement with his assessment, but it did fall quiet, tail lashing in silent agitation.
“Excuse me, miss? Do you need some help?” Daniel calledout to her.
“Yes, please,” she replied as she turned to him. “I’m looking for the doctor.”
Her gaze landed on him and their eyes met for the first time, and it was as if a thunderbolt had struck him, driving all the air from his lungs, all the thoughts from his mind, except one. Because his cougar was right.
Mate.
Chapter Three
River
“I’m the doctor, Daniel Millan,” the handsome man standing before River announced, fixing her with a steady gaze that seemed to steal her breath from her chest. His blonde hair was cut short, but there was still enough of it to rustle in the light winter breeze.
His smile was completely disarming and his blue eyes were so hypnotic, she feared she would fall into them if she stared at them too long.
“Oh, that’s the first bit of luck I’ve had in a while,” River replied with a nervous laugh and felt herself blush.
Smooth. Way to sound like a right idiot, she scolded herself.
“Well, now you’ve found me, how can I help?” Daniel asked brightly.
Marry me and give me your babies,River thought, but managed to stop short of actually blurting it out, which was something. She could, however, feel the blush deepening on her cheeks. She cleared her throat.
“I just need a new script. I left my meds behind...” her voice trailed off as the words caught in her throat.When I fled.
“No problem. Come in and we’ll see what we can do,” Daniel smiled and held open the door to his office for her. River smiled weakly and allowed Daniel to show her inside, mildly surprised by how comfortable the place looked. There was no tree inside, just the one that was outside in the front yard of the building.
The doctor’s office seemed to be part of his home, which she guessed made sense, seeing as there weren’t all that many people in the town and if there was an emergency, the doctor would be needed quickly. The nearest hospital was a long way away. He was a practical man. Probably not the sort of man who sold everything and climbed on the back of a bike at a half hour’s notice.
He showed her into his office and offered her a chair. River sat down and shuffled uncomfortably. She didn’t really know what to say and the need for her medication wasn’t exactly urgent. She shouldn’t be disturbing him, and she certainly shouldn’t be sitting here having thoughts about a man after what she’d just been through.
“Actually, you know what, it doesn’t matter,” River said and made to stand up and leave.
Daniel frowned at her and tilted his head slightly.
“No offence, but I don’t believe you,” Daniel said with a light-hearted tone.
“Excuse me?” River replied with a look of disbelief.
“Just as I said, I don’t believe you,” Daniel replied with a shrug. “You came looking for a doctor in a strange town to get a script because you don’t have your medication. You clearly didn’t know where you were going and decided to find me without asking for directions. Sounds like it does matter to you.”
River stared at him with her mouth hanging open, speechless—which wasn’t something that happened much in her life. But the doctor had left her utterly dumbstruck. His intelligent eyes searched her face.
“Something tells me this is less about the meds, and moreabout why you’re here in the first place.”
“Maybe, but like I said, it doesn’t matter.” River shrugged, then immediately regretted the casual gesture. She found herself smoothing back her hair, a nervous habit she thought she’d broken years ago. His steady gaze made her skin prickle, and she had to fight the urge to look away—or worse, keep staring back. She shifted her weight, abruptly aware of every awkward angle of her body, every breath that felt just a little too shallow. It was not a feeling she was used to and it was not something she was at all comfortable with.
“Tell you what, why don’t we treat this less as a doctor seeing a patient and more like a friendly ear?” Daniel offered. Everything in River wanted her to agree, immediately, but she bit her lip and tried to calm herself.
